My mother and her high school friends were much like the
girls in “Ya Ya Sisterhood” or “Sex and the City”: friends for life. I don’t know the particulars of how they met
but it was probably in school, like most people.

Betsy Ward (later Lumsden, then Gray, then Delcambre) and
Momma were probably the prettiest and most popular in their class at Cradock High
School in Portsmouth, Virginia, in the mid-1940s. They were cheerleaders. Not surprisingly they were also on the
Homecoming Court. And they dated the
handsome and popular boys.

In the summer, they often went to the beach. This photo of Betsy captures the Betsy I
knew: she was funny and enjoyed a good joke. I imagine this sexy pose was followed by a
fit of giggles, knowing Betsy.

The friends graduated from high school in 1946 but went
to separate colleges. Betsy’s message on
the back of her school photo captures the sentiment that described their
friendship for many years:

Dec. ‘46

Dearest Mary E. (My late date gal),

You know how crazy I am about you and I’ll always think
of you more as a sister than just a friend.

I know that we will be together loads in the years to
come and I hope nothing ever happens to end our friendship.

I hope that we will continue being as close and sharing
as much as we have in the past.

Be a good gal, but have a good time.

Love you muy mucho,

Betsy

And they did remain close for many years, it’s true. But they did drift apart for quite awhile
until they were united again in the most unpleasant of circumstances: chemo.
Such a strange coincidence too is that both had ovarian cancer.

The last time I saw Betsy was in October 2005 when she
brought flowers to the house after hearing from the nurses that Momma had
died. Betsy died a year and a half
later.

4 comments:

How great that you were able to know Betsy. It wasn't until this prompt that I realized I never even knew who my mother's BFF was. Since she's still living, I'll have to ask her. Your mother and Betsy were definitely lookers!

Very cool photos! What a lovely note on the photo...when my husband's grandmother let me look through her cedar chest she had her prom dance card. You signed up to dance with someone for each dance ahead of time. I love that idea :)

When I was little I thought Betsy was our aunt,LOL. She was funny, well all of Momma's friends were funny, but there was something really special about her. I always loved going to her house on Christmas day. I surely miss all those gals of Momma's. It was weird that they both got Ovarian Cancer.

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About Me

My name is Wendy. About twenty years ago, I helped my mother research the Jolletts. Since retiring from teaching, I have expanded my research which I share here. When I’m not looking for my own family, I index for FamilySearch and the Greene County Historical Society.
Welcome to Jollett Etc. Please leave a comment to let me know you were here. If you have more information or believe we are related, EMAIL ME at wendymath at cox dot net